1967 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election

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1967 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election
Flag of India.svg
  1962 21 February 1967 1972  

all 75 seats in Legislative Assembly
38 seats needed for a majority
Turnout58.8%
 First partySecond party
  Flag of Jammu and Kashmir (1936-1953).svg
Leader Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad
Party INC JKNC
Leader's seat Amirakadal Safakadal
Last electionNew70
Seats wonIncrease2.svg 618
Seat changeNewDecrease2.svg 62

 Third party
 
Party ABJS
Last electionNew
Seats won3
Seat changeNew

Chief Minister before election

Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq
INC

Elected Chief Minister

Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq
INC

Elections for the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir were held in February 1967. [1] [2] [3] Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq was appointed Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

Contents

Background

In 1965, the working committee of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference announced that it would dissolve itself and merge with the Indian National Congress. A rival faction led by Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad refused to go along and contested the elections under the National Conference banner. [4]

Prior to that, in 1963, the Jammu Praja Parishad also merged into the national party Bharatiya Jana Sangh. [5] These mergers are seen by analysts as a major "centralizing strategy" and a victory for the Hindu nationalist agenda of the Praja Parishad and its allies. [6]

There were reports that Bakshi was planning to forge an electoral alliance with the Jana Sangh, despite their differences on the Article 370, but the alliance did not materialize. The Jana Sangh, whose main base was in the Jammu Division, planned to contest in the Kashmir Valley taking advantage of the rivalry between the Congress and the National Conference. [7]

The election

Of the 75 seats, 42 seats were allocated to the Kashmir Valley, 31 to Jammu, and 2 to Ladakh. [7]

The National Conference contested 73 seats overall. The Jana Sangh contested all 31 seats of Jammu and several seats in the Valley. The Plebiscite Front officially boycotted the election, but several members contested as independent candidates, including the General Secretary Ali Mohammad Naik, who contested from Tral, and Ghulam Mohammed Bhat, contesting from Habbakadal in Srinagar. The Awami Action Committee also boycotted the election. Other parties that contested included the rump group of the National Conference under the leadership of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, the rump group of the Democratic National Conference under the leadership of Ram Piara Saraf, and the national parties Communist Party of India, Praja Socialist Party and the Hindu Mahasabha. [7]

The nomination papers of 118 candidates were rejected on technical grounds, 55 of them because the candidates had failed to take the obligatory oath of allegiance to the Constitution. As a result, 22 seats in the Valley were unopposed, resulting in a win for the Congress candidates. [8]

Simultaneously, elections were also held for the Lok Sabha (the Lower House of the Indian Parliament) in the 6 Lok Sabha constituencies of the State. [7]

Results

The Indian National Congress won 61 seats in the state assembly, emerging as the winning party. Bakshi's National Conference won 8 seats and the Jana Sangh 3 seats. Three other seats were won by independent candidates, one of them by Ali Mohammed Naik of the Plebiscite Front. [3] [9]

In the elections for the Lok Sabha, 5 of the 6 seats were won by the Congress, of which 2 were unopposed. The remaining seat was won by Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad of the National Conference, contesting from Srinagar. Scholar Sumantra Bose remarks that Bakshi might never have won a free election "at any point during his ten years in office", but he did so now holding the banner of Kashmiri regionalist resistance to New Delhi. [9]

India Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly 1967.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Indian National Congress 423,92253.0261New
Jammu & Kashmir National Conference 137,17917.168–62
Bharatiya Jana Sangh 131,54216.453New
Others38,5524.8200
Independents68,3778.553+1
Total799,572100.00750
Valid votes799,57286.51
Invalid/blank votes124,72713.49
Total votes924,299100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,419,25365.13
Source: ECI [10]

Elected members

ConstituencyReserved for
(SC/None)
MemberParty
KarnahNoneMohammed Yunis Khan Indian National Congress
KupwaraNoneM. S. Tantray Indian National Congress
LolabNone Ghulam Nabi Wani Indian National Congress
BandiporaNoneM. A. Khan Indian National Congress
HandwaraNone Abdul Gani Lone Indian National Congress
HarliNone Abdul Gani Mir Indian National Congress
RefiabadNoneGhulam Rasul Kar Indian National Congress
BaramullaNoneShamas-ud-din Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
SoporeNoneGulam Nabi Mircha Indian National Congress
PattanNoneG. R. Dar Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
SonawariNoneAbdul Aziz Parray Indian National Congress
GulmargNoneSurinder Singh Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
UriNoneM. M. Khan Indian National Congress
KanganNoneM. B. Ahmad Indian National Congress
GanderbalNoneMuhammad Maqbool Bhat Indian National Congress
AmirakadalNone Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq Indian National Congress
HabakadalNoneS. K. Kaul Indian National Congress
TankiporaNoneN. Mohamad Indian National Congress
KhanyarNoneG. Ahmed Indian National Congress
SafakadalNoneB. G. Mohamad Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
ZadibalNone Sheikh Abdullah Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
HazaratbalNoneMohammad Yahya Sidiqi Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
BeerwaNoneA. Quddus Indian National Congress
Khan SahibNoneA. G. Namthali Indian National Congress
BadgamNoneH. S. Mehdi Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
Charari ShariefNoneAbdul Qayum Indian National Congress
ChaduraNone Ghulam Mustafa Mir Indian National Congress
RajpuraNoneG. M. Rajpori Indian National Congress
PulwamaNoneMaster Sanaullah Sheikh Indian National Congress
PamporeNoneP. M. Shah Indian National Congress
TralNone Ali Muhammad Naik Independent
ShopianNoneS. A. Shamim Independent
NoorabadNoneA. Aziy Indian National Congress
DevsarNone Manohar Nath Kaul Indian National Congress
KulgamNoneMohammed Yaqub Bhat Indian National Congress
NandiNoneA. Rehman Indian National Congress
PahalgamNoneM. Lal Indian National Congress
BijibeharaNone Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Indian National Congress
AnantnagNoneShamasuddin Indian National Congress
KotharNoneMohammad Ashraf Khan Indian National Congress
VerinagNone Syed Mir Qasim Indian National Congress
NaubugNoneHassan-ud-din Indian National Congress
LehNone Sonam Wangyal Indian National Congress
KargilNoneKacho Muhammad Ali Khan Independent
KishtwarNoneGhulam Mustafa Indian National Congress
InderwalNoneAbdul Gani Goni Indian National Congress
BhaderwahSCJ. Ram Indian National Congress
DodaNoneLassa Wani Indian National Congress
RambanNoneH. Raj Indian National Congress
BanehalNoneM. Akhtar Jammu & Kashmir National Conference
GulabgarhNoneMohammed Ayub Khan Indian National Congress
ReasiNoneB. L. Kohstani Indian National Congress
TikriNone Shiv Charan Gupta Bharatiya Jana Sangh
UdhampurNone Hem Raj Indian National Congress
RamnagarSCChandu Lal Indian National Congress
BasohliNone Mangat Ram Sharma Indian National Congress
BillawarNoneB. Singh Indian National Congress
KathuaSCPanjaboo Ram Indian National Congress
JasmargarhNone Girdhari Lal Dogra Indian National Congress
SambaSCParma Nand Indian National Congress
RamgarhNoneD. Nath Indian National Congress
BishnahSCBhagat Chhaju Ram Indian National Congress
RanbirsinghpuraNoneK. Singh Indian National Congress
Jandrah GharotaNoneRangil Singh Indian National Congress
MarhSCGuranditta Mal Indian National Congress
Jammu CantonmentNoneP. T. Dutta Indian National Congress
Jammu SouthNoneR. Nath Bharatiya Jana Sangh
Jammu NorthNone Prem Nath Dogra Bharatiya Jana Sangh
AkhnoorNoneDharm Paul Indian National Congress
ChambNoneChhaju Ram Indian National Congress
NowsheraNoneBeli Ram Indian National Congress
DarhalNoneM. Hussain Indian National Congress
RajouriNoneA. Rashid Indian National Congress
MendharNoneChaudhary Muhammad Aslam Indian National Congress
PoonchNoneGhulam Mir Mohamad Indian National Congress

Government formation

On 17 March, a 14-member ministry headed by G. M. Sadiq was sworn in. The Cabinet ministers included Girdhari Lal Dogra, D. P. Dhar, Mohammed Ayub Khan, Peer Giasuddin and Kanwar Ranjit Singh. Abdul Gani Lone was among the Ministers of State, and Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was among the Deputy Ministers.

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References

  1. Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir 2012, pp. 380–381.
  2. 1967 J&K elections
  3. 1 2 Statistical Report on General Election, 1967, Election Commission of India.
  4. Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace 2003, pp. 82–83.
  5. Kedar Nath Kumar (1990), Political Parties in India, Their Ideology and Organisation, Mittal Publications, pp. 108–, ISBN   978-81-7099-205-9
  6. Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace 2003, p. 82.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Das Gupta, Jammu and Kashmir 2012, p. 380.
  8. Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace 2003, p. 85.
  9. 1 2 Bose, Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths to Peace 2003, p. 86.
  10. "Jammu & Kashmir 1967". Election Commission of India . Retrieved 22 June 2022.

Bibliography